SALEM – Communities throughout Oregon are planning a variety of special events, parades and gatherings to honor military veterans on Veterans Day, November 11.  The Oregon Department of Veterans’ Affairs has compiled a statewide list of many of events. 
 
Veterans’ Day is a national tribute that traces its roots to World War I.  Jim Willis, Director of the Oregon Department of Veterans’ Affairs said America rose to greatness on the shoulders of their military veterans whose responsibility has been to defend freedom and protect their country.
 
“Our veterans represent the best of America, and they deserve the best we can give them.  These men and women have pledged their lives to protect our Nation’s security creating a debt that we can never fully repay,” Willis said.  “We offer them our respect, our thanks, and our promise that we will never forget their valor or their sacrifice.  We remember those who died and those we are blessed to still have with us.”
 
In 1918, at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, the guns fell silent in Europe.  The armistice was signed signaling the end of “the war to end all wars.”  One year later, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the day as Armistice Day.  The tradition of observing November 11 continued and since 1954, that date has been set aside as Veterans Day.
 
Events in Oregon vary from the annual Albany Veterans Day parade—the largest west of the Mississippi River—to other ceremonies and activities in the Portland Metro area, central, southern and eastern Oregon, Willamette Valley and Oregon coast.
 
The list can be viewed online at: http://www.oregon.gov/ODVA/docs/PDFs/Events/VeteransDayEvents_09.pdf.